Do you?
I’m not talking about casual hi, oh, what do you want for dinner? etc.
Do you really talk to your husband?
As most of you know, last week was our 2 year anniversary and we just happen to be going over “The Art of Romance” in our summer bible study at College group this past week. In The Art of Romance lesson, Kevin and I both really had our eyes opened. The speaker talked about “dating” his spouse – now let me preface, I have heard this so many times “date your spouse”. But, he said that they do this with “no distractions” and that is what hit us.
I think it is so easy to get busy and let distractions get in the way of our marriage. I like being on the computer and Kevin likes watching TV, so it is really easy for us to sit at home and “be together” but not really “talk” to each other. I feel like we do talk a lot in our marriage, but I think we could also do some improving in this area (because hey – we like each other a lot and want to!).
So, we decided that for our anniversary day, we were just going to focus on each other at dinner. This meant, no cell phones. I think we both were excited at the opportunity to just spend time together. We weren’t checking emails, or thinking about work, or multi-tasking or surfing social media. We were just sitting at dinner together, talking. It was great and we had some really good conversations about our life and house stuff.
I know it might sound simple, talking to each other. However, it is crazy how something so little can be taken for granted and easily put on the back burner. I know for us, we in no way want to be that couple at dinner both on their phones, not talking to each other. We both love each other very much and want to take every opportunity to make our marriage better.
We will definitely be putting this into practice more in our life. By taking time throughout the week to talk with no distractions, I know that this will also help us learn more about each other. We have been together over 7 years and I still love learning more about Kevin.
Here are some practical ways I came up with to do this in your marriage:
1. Make dinner together
2. Go outside and sit for 30 min or so
3. Take a walk together
4. Leave your cell phones in another room for one night a week
5. Go on a date night together
6. Play a board game/card game together
7. Go to bed early one night and just talk
8. Have a no technology night
9. Write a list of the things you love about the other person – then share out loud
10. Play 20 questions – and ask real ones – dreams, fears, hopes